A multifaceted look at historian Raul Hilberg, tracing the evolution of Holocaust research from a marginal subdiscipline into a vital intellectual project.

I would recommend this book to both Holocaust historians and general readers alike. The breadth and depth of Hilbergs research and his particular insights have not yet been surpassed by any other Holocaust scholar.Jewish Libraries News& Reviews

Though best known as the author of the landmark 1961 workThe Destruction of the European Jews, the historian Raul Hilberg produced a variety of archival research, personal essays, and other works over a career that spanned half a century.The Anatomy of the Holocaust collects some of Hilbergs most essential and groundbreaking writingsmany of them published in obscure journals or otherwise inaccessible to nonspecialistsin a single volume. Supplemented with commentary and notes from Hilbergs longtime German editor and his biographer.

From the Introduction: This selection by the editors from the multitude of his published texts focuses on Hilbergs intellectual interests as a Holocaust researcher. Among other topics, they deal with the bureaucracy of the Holocaust, the number of victims, the role of theJudenräte(Jewish councils), and the function of the railway and the police in the extermination process. The scholarly impulses extending from Hilbergs work remain remarkable and virulent almost a decade after his death.2 They deserve to be readily accessible in one place to historians and the interested public in the new compilation offered here. Many of the debates influenced by Hilberg are not yet resolved. The texts presented can be quite revealing in light of these controversies.

Raul Hilberg (1926-2007) was the founding scholar of Holocaust studies in the United States and the author of numerous publications, including the classicThe Destruction of the European Jews. He taught political science at the University of Vermont from 1955 to 1991.

IntroductionWalter H. Pehle and René Schlott

Chapter 1. The Anatomy of the HolocaustChapter 2. German Motivations for the Destruction of the JewsChapter 3. The Bureaucracy of AnnihilationChapter 4. The Significance of the HolocaustChapter 5. Incompleteness in Holocaust HistoriographyChapter 6. Bitburg as SymbolChapter 7. The Ghetto as a Form of GovernmentChapter 8. The Judenrat: Conscious or Unconscious ToolChapter 9. I Was Not ThereChapter 10. The Holocaust Mission: July 29 to August 12, 1979Chapter 11. In Search of the Special TrainsChapter 12. Working on the HolocaustChapter 13. The Development of Holocaust Research: A Personal Overview

Index